Sanctuary
by USAlfredHero
Summary: Arthur's life has taken wrong turn after another, leaving him in a sempiternal cycle of pain and sadness. Is there any hope left at all? Warnings: AU, abuse, possible character death, possible yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

I sat alone in my room. It decided to rain today, so the trickle of rain softly drifted through the windows of the house. Not a sound but rain could be heard in that rare peaceful moment. I just wanted to sit there forever, without a care in the world. The sound of an opening and then closing door was heard from the level below me. My brother was home. Allistor... I heard him walking about the house, maybe checking to see if I had done my chores. I had done them the second I had gotten home from school. I heard a loud crashing sound, then his feet slamming up the stairs. I froze. Had I forgotten to do something? The door of my bedroom loudly swung open, making me jump up from where I was sitting. My brother stomped over to me, his face was full of rage.

"Little idiot! You forgot to empty the dishwasher!" He pulled me up by my arm.

"You have _basic _chores to do, why can't you do them right?!" He nearly threw me out of my room, then yelled at me to finish what I had forgotten.

He was always like this... Ever since our parents and our other brother, Connor, died in a car accident. It was a 9 car pileup... It was a miracle that both of us even came out of there alive...

I picked up a plate from the dishwasher and set it in the cabinet.

Both of us had lost our entire family besides each other... We had gotten along fine before the accident... But now, to be honest, we aren't very close at all... In fact.. I'm quite sure he _hates_ me. I can't bring myself to hate him, because he has developed some serious mental problems from loosing everyone he loves, and having to take care of me... I'll just do what he says, and try to accept the fate I've been given...

"...Did you finish it yet, Arthur?" He was downstairs again.

"I'm almost- Allistor!" I ran over to my brother to comfort him. I could see tears going down his face.

He pushed me away, and I crashed into the cabinet. I felt the edge of the counter stab into my back.

"It's your fault they're dead! Its your fault, Arthur!" He kicked my shins, then grabbed me by my neck, my toes just barely touching the floor. I endured the pain as long as I could... But I broke into tears before I could think about trying to get out of this.

"You're useless! You killed our parents and Connor, and now you expect me to do everything?! I hate you! Just go die like the rest of them!" He beat me until the life was gone from my eyes... And left me on the floor.

* * *

**Hello... So. There's one thing I'd like to say before anything else. I am sorry**. **If you don't like Allistor being heartless... Then this fanfic is not right for you. Arthur's life will take many wrong turns... Most of them include physical and emotional abuse. So if you don't like sad fanfics... Then this is not right for you either T.T Review if you have any questions (or complaints). Thank you so much for reading, and I'll have an update very soon! **


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to a sharp pain in my back. I cracked open my stinging eyes, trying to figure out where I was. The light outside was blue. Was It morning, or nightfall? I tried to stand up, the pain was pulsing all over my body. The floor where i was laying was covered in dried blood. I wiped my face, and stood up, feeling dizzy. I then wet some paper towel and washed the blood off the floor. When I was finished, I walked slowly over to the window, and looked outside. _Snow? _I sighed. Spring hasn't come yet. I glanced over to the woods which stood behind my house across the next street. They were stunningly beautiful, shrouded in snow and a navy sky. The birds were chirping, so I suppose it was the morning. _I had spent a dreamless sleep on the kitchen floor. _

I walked down the hallway, passing Allistor's room. He was snoring lightly, so I quietly made my way up the stairs, trying not to wake him. I stepped into the bathroom, and gently closed the door behind me. I looked in the mirror. The left side of my face was starting to bruise and was covered with blood. _Everything hurt_... worse than it has in a while. When we first lost our parents and Connor, Allistor had actually broken my wrist and thrown me down stairs. I went back into my room, and checked the time. _4:34..._ I still had 3 hours before the bus would come. I got some fresh clothes to wear to school, along with a towel, then silently walked back into the bathroom.

I shed my bloody clothes, and stepped into the hot water. It felt wonderful against the bruises I had received the night before. I washed off all of the blood, and tried not to cry.

I thought about how happy we were before all of this. Before the beating, the death, the pure desolate _anger_ that blocked out the only light we wanted so badly to comfort us. Our family was perfect... Before. I try not to remember the crash, But sometimes I'll have dreams about it... My mother had put herself in front of me to save my life... And Connor had done the same for Allistor. It kills me to remember... That my mother had died to save me... Maybe that's what Allistor always meant when he said it was my fault... I suppose... I suppose it was. I couldn't stop crying, but I did not want to wake Allistor, so I had to try and control myself. It was hard. It was just impossibly unbearably hard.

I shut off the water, dried myself off, then got dressed. I went back into my room, noticing how bright it had gotten, grabbed my book bag, and ran out the back door and down the back stairs. I didn't have to tell Allistor when I was leaving, He would know. I don't even think he would care if I left... So I kept walking, as usual.

The walk to the bus stop was very nice, but it was harshly cold. I did enjoy the scenery and the sound of the crunching snow underneath my feet as I progressed forward. A thick blanket of shimmering white covered absolutely everything... And it was the most beautiful thing I've seen in a very long time. That was when my world was peaceful... And everything was alright for a short amount of time. But like all good things... They die.

When I had gotten to the stop, I walked as far as I could from everyone. I didn't really have any friends at all. There was one boy named Kiku that I would talk to during lunch, but he was all I had. He had other friends too, but he didn't always have time just for me. He would always leave in the middle of our chats, because another boy named Ivan would always pull him out to talk with him.

I heard the snow crunching in the distance. I looked up from my shoes to see who was walking towards me.

_Oh no. _

_Not them..._

The three familiar figures walked up to me, smirking devilishly.

"Hey you little piece of shit!" The one standing in the middle said, as the other two laughed. My stomach turned itself inside out.

He pinned me to the frost covered fence, and stroked my face with a finger, that went under my chin and tilted my head up.

"He's had a rough night... His eyes are bloody." He said back to his friends.

I smacked his hand away from my face, but soon after I had doubted my decision. Within a minute, they had me on the ground, kicking the already present bruises, and killing every last bit of hope that was left inside my lifeless, frail, broken body.


	3. Chapter 3

The bus came five minutes after they decided to leave me alone. I couldn't move it hurt so much... It was so cold... So painful... And so hopeless. I was laying in the bloody snow for maybe ten minutes until I could move. I stood up, shakily, and started running as fast as I could towards the forest. I was going to end it all. All of this pain, it was living hell. I just wanted to die like the rest of my family. Nobody would care, anyways. I'm useless. Unnecessary. The world can keep spinning without me.

I ran up the hill and into the woods. It was so cold I could not feel anything but extreme pain halfway up my legs, and the bruises and cuts I had just been dealt. My face and hands were completely numb and probably close to getting frostbitten. I ignored the pain, and kept running. I didn't want anyone to find me... Not like anyone would look.

The clouds rolled back in, and the snow started to fall again. It slashed my face as I ran further into this never ending forest. I finally reached a small creek, and threw my bag down next to the water. I was crying, harder and louder than I have been able to in a while. It was nice to let it out and just scream in the middle of nowhere, where I knew nobody would hear me. The pain of losing my Mother and Father and Connor was too much for my brother and I to handle. We cried together for weeks until he started to get extremely angry for little things that I would do. I realized that I was truly on my own, and that I had lost the real Allistor along with the rest of my family. Because my real brother... The _real_ Allistor, was an extremely kind and witty young man that loved everyone for the little things that nobody would ever care to notice in a person. He was incredible. But to hurt me... So much... Was indeed not my brother. My mother was kind... Beautiful... Everything anyone would ever want in a mother... And my father was a very responsible and intelligent man. He got all of his work done so he could talk to us and be with us because he absolutely adored having a family this big and with the massive amount of love that we all shared for each other. And Connor... He was always by himself. But he wanted to be, and he liked solitude. But when all of us would get together... He would tell jokes that would make you cry you would laugh so hard. My family... Was what I had lost two years ago. I collapsed onto the ground, crying so hard my soul had shattered. All of the beautiful memories I had collected over my lifespan... That I want to always hold close to my broken heart... I can never live again. I sat there and cried for a very long time. I don't recall how long I was there. But I did not forget why I went so very deep into those woods. I took off all of my clothes, and stepped into the freezing water, half of it frozen over. I then proceeded to get further down into it, until I was completely submerged in the freezing slushy water. I tried so hard not to scream from the excruciating pain I was in. But I wanted to die. And I got my wish...

_Because everything went dark after that._


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up. Nothing hurt, until I moved. _So... I'm alive?_ I sat up, and looked around the room I was in. It was warm... And so cozy in this room. The walls were painted red... And the blanket felt like it was crafted by god himself. So soft... A desk with a lamp on it was next to the bed I was in. I glanced over to the window, and it looked and sounded like the middle of the night. But then I realized. _Where the hell am I?! _I tried to get out of the bed, but I couldn't move my legs. It hurt too much to even try and lay back down. But I had to figure out where I was, because this was _not_ my house, and not one that I have ever remembered going to. So considering the fact that I was immobile, I decided to pull a Sherlock and look around the room for clues about where I was.

There was nothing on the desk but the lamp. There was nothing near the closet on the left. There was nothing on the table near the door except an empty vase, except my green bag, which was sitting underneath it. There were pictures hanging from the walls, but they were too far away to tell who was in them.

Suddenly, there was a noise coming from outside the door.

It was the shuffling of socks on a hardwood floor. I froze. They were getting closer. I tried real hard to get under the blanket before the door opened, and succeeded. I didn't move a muscle. The feet were in the room. Someone was in the room. I slowed down my breathing, but suddenly there were _two_ people in the room, and they started to talk to each other.

"Look, Alfred, he turned over!"

"Awww yeah, he's totally gonna survive this!"

"Are you seriously joking around even now?"

"I'm not_ joking around_, I'm happy he's okay, Matthew!"

"You're stupid"

"Ditto!"

"What does that even mean?!"

"It means I threw it right back 'atcha, buckshot! If you're gonna live in the States, you gotta learn our language!"

"Grrr! Don't fight with me, Alfred!"

"I can take you, easily!"

"Bring it, _hero!_"

They ran out of the room. Yelling at each other, laughing. Then one of them started screaming from what seemed to be a level below me.

"PUT ME DOWN ALFRED, PUT ME DOWN PUT ME DOWN!"

"TAP OUT, MATTHEW, TAP OUT! AHAHAHA!"

"AGGH NOOO I WILL NOT LOSE!"

Just as I was beginning to get annoyed, I heard footsteps in the room. I had peeked out of the blanket after they had left, and what I saw amazed me.

_A baby polar bear?_

He hopped up onto the bed, and started sniffing around my legs. Then he started to walk in circles, then curled up next to my stomach his breathing was gradually slowing down, as he fell asleep. That really made me happy.

I suppose that these people had found me in the woods... And had fixed me up and taken me in. I started gently stroking the bear's soft white fur. Without warning, tears started to cascade down my face. They _care_ about me... And they don't even know me...

All of a sudden, someone was standing above me.

"Hello." He smiled... Brighter... Than anyone has ever smiled at me in a very,very long time.


	5. Chapter 5

I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw him. Maybe it was because he had seen me crying? ... I didn't know what to think, or say... We kind of just looked at each other for a moment, until he spoke again.

"How are you feeling?" His smile turned soft and kind. I hadn't received one of those since my mother had... ... I broke down.

I felt a warm pair of arms wrap around me as he knelt on the floor next to the bed. He kept on whispering that "it would be alright" and "We'll take care of you," as he gently rubbed my back, but that only made me sob harder into his shoulder. I tried to fit a "thank you" in between sobs, but it was becoming so hard to not just scream that I couldn't even breathe. All I could think about was how wonderful this person was. How accepting and kind and loving he was toward a complete stranger he found dead in a stream.

The other boy ran up the stairs, looking quite concerned. He didn't know what to do at first.

"Alfred, what's going on, is he alright?!" The boy sat down beside us.

"Yes Matthew. He'll be just fine." He chuckled.

They helped me so I could sit up while in bed and talk with them.

"What's your name?" They asked at the same time.

"Arthur..." I said nervously.

"Cool. I'm Alfred.

He smiled.

"And I'm Matthew." The other one said, smiling along with him.

"It's nice to meet you guys... And I can't thank you enough... Honestly..."

"Oh it's no problem!" Alfred patted my shoulder gently.

"But... It must have been troubling for you... To take another person into your house..."

"Oh, no. Mattie's boyfriend always comes to visit, and he's worse than you have been in three days in 20 minutes.

Matthew smacked Alfred's shoulder.

"Not funny." Matthew scowled, while Alfred laughed like a madman.

"He has an accent... Where are you from, Arthur?"

"He's British. Duh, Matthew!"

"Well sor-ry, Mr. I-know-everything!"

Alfred sighed, then smiled at me again.

I tried to smile back. I wondered what I looked like.

"Hey, guys?"

"Yeah?" They both said at once, looking concerned, as they were before.

"Where am I?" I asked, realizing that I was in an unfamiliar place, probably a few miles away from my house.

"You're in Sterling." Alfred said, smiling.

I blinked. Had I really run that far into the woods?! I was 45 minutes away from my house by car.

How had I pulled that off?!

"Is that alright, Arthur? Do you want us to take you home...?" Matthew asked, looking a bit concerned.

I was silent. Did I really want to go back? Allistor might be worried about me... But he would have called my phone.

"Did my phone ring at all?"

Alfred walked over to my bag.

"Is it in here?"

"Yeah, it's in the front pocket."

He unzipped the pocket and rummaged through it until pulling out the phone. He stood up, then walked back over to me and held it out.

"Here ya go!" He said with a smile.

I wondered why they were being so nice to me. My emotions started to swirl, but I tried to hold them in, as crying again would make me look sensitive. I sniffled, and took the phone. I looked through the messages. Nothing. Really? Allistor... He really doesn't care, does he?

"Anything?" Alfred's voice startled me.

"Nothing." I replied.

Oh no. Did I look like I was going to cry? Because I honestly felt like it...

"Nothing?!" He put his hands on my shoulders and looked straight into my eyes.

"What do you mean, nothing? Don't you have parents?" He asked with obvious sympathy.

I shivered. I felt tears well up in my eyes, but at this point, I didn't care if I cried anymore.

"My parents and my younger brother died in a car crash two years ago... I live with my older brother..."

"That's terrible... I'm so sorry..." Alfred said. He and Matthew looked terribly shocked.

"It's alright..."

"..."

"He wouldn't care if I killed myself."

A split second after I had said that, I was pulled into a hug. Could people this kind even exist? I still don't understand how people can do these things and feel these emotions for people they don't even know. But I suppose there are some people out there that have it in their hearts to comfort a stranger... If they know something bad has happened to them. There needs to be more of this kind of people. I haven't been hugged like this in a while... The warmth and the safety... It was all I could ever ask for.

After that, we talked for awhile. Not just my family, but how Alfred and Matthew lived alone. No parents, no support, in almost 2 years now. They were both only 19. Their Mother had died in an office fire, and they had never met their dad.

I didn't talk about Allistor much, though. I didn't exactly like sharing the fact that I was beaten on a daily basis... But I just felt the urge to tell them.

So they let me stay with them.

* * *

**_Hey there, people! Sorry it's taken so long to update! ;^; But I promise I did not forget about this fanfic, I've just been planning! I have this piece of paper thats full of words and stuff, and I've been taking to school with me, and I made a huge plot timeline and a bunch of stuff I'm going to put into this! AHHH RUN ON SENTENCE! ¯\(ºдಠ)/¯ I promise I won't use those in the fic... o.o_**

**_I'll update again soon! School is rough, so expect days in between the updates! T.T IM SORRYYY!_**

**_And hey, followers, I LOVE YOU. 3 3 3 3_**


	6. Chapter 6

They had a fairly large house, with three stories. It was very cozy, with lofts and red walls, and wood ceilings and trim. But I honestly don't know how they could work hard enough to pay it off. Alfred ran a blog, and Matthew worked 3 jobs, but I'm not sure where. They were both out of high school, but only Matthew decided to go to college. Alfred was already content with his lifestyle, and had no intentions of changing it. He liked spending time in his own house, by his own rules. And I reckon he enjoyed spending time with me too.

I would still go to school, as I was still only 17. I rode the bus that actually came to their neighborhood, 30 minutes away from the school. It was an impossibly long ride, but I was going to drop out when I turned 18 anyways, so its not like I'd have to put up with it much longer. I'm just suprised I would still be able to go to the same school, otherwise I would have just stopped going; which was against the law in Virginia. Matthew and Alfred both used to go to my school, but Matthew switched out because he had an oppertunity to take a certain class, and Alfred had stayed until he graduated. Alfred was 18, and had actually skipped over two grades when he was younger because he had already known the curriculum. And when he finally finished his senior year of high school, he "hightailed out of there" as fast as he could. He always talked about how much he hated school, and I could relate to that. I was still getting harassed. He was really the only thing that made life worth living anymore, now that I think about it... When I would get home, he would always talk to me, ask me how my day was, and help me with my homework. His personality was brilliant. He was so eccentric, everything made him laugh. He would tell the best jokes too. He could just talk to you for hours on end, and you would never get bored of him. He really made me happy.

I tried not to think about Allistor that often, but I still checked my phone every day to see if he ever needed me. I would still send him texts, saying I was alright, and not to worry, but I would never get an answer from him. He truly did not care about me. But Alfred always made me feel like I was cared for, and my life had value again.

And the weeks just flew on by.

"Gooooooood moorrrning, sunshine!" He opened the blinds, making a loud shuffling noise. They didn't let any light into the room because the sun hadn't even come up yet. He did this pointless cherade every morning, but it never annoyed me. If it was anyone else though, I would have gone mad.

I rubbed my tired eyes and sat up in bed. My back was still a little sore, but it went away as I started to wake up more.

"Morning, Alfred." I stretched my arms out above my head and yawned. It was about 5am.

"You know what day it is, Artie?!"

"Monday!" I said in a cheerful sarcastic tone, and laughed along with him.

I got out of bed and got my clothes from the closet, then headed towards the bathroom. I showered, noticing how the bruises are fading more and more, and how no new ones had appeared. I got dressed and headed down the stairs. I could hear Alfred taking a shower in the other bathroom. He was singing loudly to some death metal that he blared from a radio he kept in there. I actually think he did it to wake up Matthew so he could get ready for school. He would always have to come stomping out of his room next to the bathroom and bang on the door to get him to stop and tell him that he was awake. Matthew went to a private school, because that's what his parents wanted for him apparently. Alfred, though, went to the same school I went to. I have three of his old teachers, it's quite amusing to talk about them.

I laughed as I walked into the kitchen. I knew how to make toast, and maybe an omelette if I tried. They said I could use their kitchen if I was ever hungry, so sometimes I would try to make food for myself; but it usually didn't turn out exactly how it's supposed to. would dropped some bread into the toaster for all three of us, then sat down next to a window to watch the sun rise. It was Spring; the leaves on the trees had started to sprout, the trees that had flowers were blooming fully, and the birds were especially loud. The sky shone a light shade of orange and yellow, and the clouds were pink. It was beautiful. I heard the bread pop out of the huge toaster. I got up and walked back over to it, displeased by its burnt appearance. I wonder if they'll eat this...

Just as I was thinking that, a hand came along and grabbed the toast from mine and took a munch at it.

"It's better than yesterday's!" Alfred said, grinning widely.

"R-really?! That's a relief." I said, happy I had actually improved in this feild.

He sat down at the table near the window and ate three burnt peices of bread and gulped down some coffee. After I had made myself some Breakfast tea, I sat down across from him.

"Have any dreams last night, Arthur?" He asked, chugging down coffee.

"Not that I can remember." I said, swirling a spoon through my tea.

"I had one," Alfred

"Oh? What about?" I asked curiously.

"I think I was Red Riding Alfred." He laughed.

"Red Riding Alfred? Did you eat any sugar before you slept?"

"Yeah, I think so..."

"Sugar can give you bizzare dreams. So what happened to Red Riding Alfred?"

"He tripped over a fire hydrant while running away from a wolf , and landed face first on the sidewalk."

Before I knew it I was on the bus, gazing out the window. The trees were shedding petals, and the big blue sky was covered in poofy clouds that drifted across the entire thing, as far as my eyes could take me. It was always nice, looking at nature. Whenever I got to a window, I could gaze for hours. It really was my favourite thing to pass the time doing. Other than chatting with Alfred and Matthew, of course. It gave me time to think about however my life was changing because of those two, not like I didn't always think about how they had done so much without asking for anything in return.

The school was huge, considering the fact that it transported students that had to take 30 minute bus rides twice a day. The sidewalk surrounding it was filled with people, while the grassy area was empty. The trees were just forming their leaves again, so the chatter from everyone waiting around outside could be heard from the street. I didn't really talk to anyone much, so I would always just sit by a tree and daydream or finish homework until classes start. I headed for a nice tree, and set my stuff down next to me as I slumped down onto it. I sighed, and started to ponder on in my head.

_"Allistor really doesn't care..."_

The warm sunlight felt good mixed with the spring air on my face. I felt my eyes flutter shut, but I snapped them back open before sleep could steal me.

_"Now, I have people who care about me..."_

I blinked and glanced over towards the window of the school to my left.

_"Very kind people..."_

The blinds were open, so I could see people in the classroom.

_"..."_

I could see people that I truly did not want to see.

Nonnegotiable. Ignorant. Self-centred. Arrogant. Sadistic. I had nothing good to say about them.

Their names were Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio. Three 'friends' that would always gang up on the unfortunate. And they just adored picking fights with me.

Francis was sneaking up behind Gilbert, while Antonio was clearly trying not to laugh not far behind him.

When Francis finally came close behind Gilbert, he jumped up and held him in a head lock with his arm around his neck. Gilbert jumped from the sudden surprise, and started punching at Francis to let go of him. Antonio was laughing so loud I could almost hear him from where I was sitting.

I chuckled quietly.

Gilbert was enraged, while Francis and Antonio laughed like madmen. I moved my eyes towards the clock in the classroom, but the teacher happened to close the blinds before I could read it. So I turned towards my bag to check the time on my phone. It was about 10 until 7. I put the silver phone back into the pocket, slung my bag over my shoulder, and walked towards the side door. I swung it open, and stepped inside the building. People were doing all sorts of things all over the place. Everyone usually avoided me, so I would avoid them all together. _Why try to make friends when nobody is interested? _I went straight to class, flipping blond bangs out of my eyes before heading down the hallway.


	7. Chapter 7

I sat down at my desk in the back of the room and started to doodle in a notebook. As weird as it may seem to others, I enjoyed drawing fairies. It seems like most people disregarded them and didn't care about the state of the beautiful world around them. If there were no fae, there wouldn't be a springtime with flowers and soft rain. I loved them dearly, they gave me something to enjoy admiring every day, even if those sod off plonkers ruined it for me. They seemed to give me an escape from all of my troubles that would soon return when i was choked out of a daydream. The bell rang, and when I looked up from my drawing, the room was filled with people. I jotted notes and doodled in between the alternating lessons about the Roman Empire. When class was finally over, all of the empty spaces on three pages of my notebook was filled with fae. I smiled at the effort I had put into it, and closed the book to head to my next class.

If I did decide to drop out, I really would miss having some place to go every day, even if nobody talked to me unless they were told to do so. I looked down at my feet as I walked, looking back once because I thought I had heard someone say my name. There was nobody looking towards me really, so I kept on walking. Until I heard it again. I started getting nervous because I had made a lot of turns through the hallways to get to the gym. The third time I heard it, I thought I had recognized the voice, but before I could hear anything besides my heart thumping out of my chest, I was already in the gym. The bell rang, and I sat down on the floor, letting my nervousness fade. Though as the coach was instructing, I heard snickering from the three girls that were sitting behind me. The paranoia started to settle into my chest again, while my stomach tied in a knot. /were they laughing at me...?/ The snickering did sound a little like the voice from before. I didn't know these girls, but one of them tripped me once, and sometimes I would overhear them gossip about the new bruise that came up on my face every so often. I don't fully understand why I am thought so lowly of, and I don't think I ever will... But brushing things off and moving on was something that I tried my best to do whenever I could. But I felt my palms start to sweat in the fist they were clenched into, and I had the urge to look behind me to see if they /really were/ laughing at me. I could hear my heart thumping again. I shakily took a deep breath and sighed quietly.

The coach told us to dress for cold spring weather, so we all stood up at the blow of a whistle and headed towards the locker room. Of course, this was quite uncomfortable for me, because if I had to undress in front of other people, they would see scars and bruises all over my body, and I'm a bit insecure as it is. So I looked all over the locker room for a blind spot where I could undress. At the beginning of the year I would just go into the loo and change, until I dropped my shirt into the I set out to find another safe haven, until I came to a hallway in the back, past the showers. There was a room, pitch black except for the light coming from the way in. It was another room with showers on each side, separated with smooth grey slate walls. It was perfect, because nobody ever went in there because there were no working lights on the inside. I didn't even have to put my bad in a locker, I could just leave it there and it would be safe. So I went straight there from the gym as usual, and stepped into sweat pants, and changed my shirt, then threw a red flannel button up shirt Alfred had lent me over my shoulders. I took off my wristwatch and opened the front pocket of my bag to put it in when I noticed my mobile was lighting up. I took it out, and realized that Alfred was calling me. I didn't want to get caught, so I hung up and sent him a text.

**"What's up, Alfred? I'm in gym, so I'll have to leave soon."**

I watched the phone for about 15 seconds, until the screen lit up again.

**"When's your birthday?"**

**"What...? Why?"**

**"I found a really great recipe for this cake and I really really really want to make it for you!"**

**"Oh Alfred, you don't have to do that for me."**

**"But I _really_ want to!"**

**"Well... Okay. It's the 20th of next month."**

**"Haha, YESSSS! Alright, have fun in gym, dude, I'll see ya later!"**

**"Haha, see you."**

I put the phone back in my bag and zipped up the pocket. Then I slid the whole thing underneath a shelf on the inside of the shower, then tied my trainers against it. Half running out of the dark, my footsteps echoing, I followed behind the rest of the class into the gym. The coach then told us to head outside and jog to the track so out the doors and down the hill we went. The sun was nearly at it's brightest, the time being not yet noon, but past sunrise. The fresh air felt great, I definitely enjoyed being outside rather than sitting in a chair under fluorescent lights and closed in by white walls all day. Except I did _delightfully horrible_ in gym. These American coaches were extremely harsh, it seemed. If anyone took a break to breathe, our coach would make the entire class run around the track all over again, and not let us play any legitimate sports until he saw it fit. Today, he decided to make us do something different. When everyone including the coach got down to the bottom of the hill, he gathered us all in one spot next to the track and told us what to do.

"Alright, soldiers! You'll run down the track, and up the bleacher steps, run up and down each row until you get to the other side, run around the track until you get to the opposite set of bleachers, then do the same!"

He blew his whistle loudly, and down the track we went.

People zipped past me, bumped me in the shoulder, and kicked the back of my shoes. I kept running. Now because Allistor had always beat on my chest and because of the car crash itself, my lungs were very weak and had very little capacity. It's not like I was constantly gasping for air, but I would sometimes get dizzy, and if I ran too much then I would_ have_ to stop or I'd come close to blacking out. So it was absolutely dreadful to have to run long distances. I didn't tell anyone though, because I didn't want them to pity me, and I'm sure I'd be bullied _even more. _So I tried my hardest, but I still managed to fail the class, because my 'hard work' had gotten me 7 meters behind the entire class. I heard the coach yell at me to speed up from the top of the bleachers, but honestly I was so close to dropping dead right then and there that I just walked the rest of the way. The flip-side to all of this was that we got to play cricket- that is, if we successfully completed the first bloody assignment. The coach made me walk around the field opposite of the cricket field, crushing my pride in the process. He said before making me walk the field that he "_would have let me play if I had tried harder, and he was looking forward to watching me play cricket because I was British._" I huffed at the thought. I wanted to play, and I _was_ giving it my all. But I couldn't tell him why I was so slow, and I didn't complain. I just did what he said, and watched the game from the sidelines. It was quite amusing, though. Some were good, others sending the bat flying half across the field while the ball went right past them.

The wind started to pick up, so I pulled up the collar of the red flannel shirt Alfred had lent me. I wore all of his old clothes, actually, but this piece in particular was important. It was very nice of him, he said it was what got him through high school. It showed at the sleeve, which had a rip in it that had been sewn back together. It made me wonder if his mother had done it for him, because Alfred did not seem like the 'sew it to fix it' type of bloke. But maybe he did do it, because he did mention that his mother had given it to him. And considering the fact that his mother had died, I took good care of it, and wore it quite often so Alfred would know that I treasured it greatly.

I looked up at the trees. The leaves were coming back, nice and green, and the sky was as blue as it was every day in America. It was kind of nice, walking in a circle. Suddenly, as I was starting to daydream about Red Riding Alfred, a whistle squealed in the distance. I guessed that it was time to go back inside and dress out again. I headed back up the hill, and went back inside to my dark little safe-haven.

xxx

I had the first lunch, so I went straight from gym to the cafeteria, which was bittersweet. The bad side of this was that Francis, Gilbert, _and_ Antonio all had this lunch too. Sometimes they would leave me alone, but on the days when they had nothing to do, they would come and pick a fight with me. I suppose today was one of those days. I heard a thick French accent spit my name.

"'Ey 'zere Arthur." He sat down next to me while I was drawing in my notebook. I slammed it shut so he wouldn't see the numerous fae I had doodled.

"Hmm? What are you drawing, _pédé...? _Unicorns?" He snickered.

I rolled my eyes, but I could feel my stomach tense.

"I'll have you know, that what is in this is none of your business and if you have a problem with that then I'd suggest finding somebody else to bother. Like your prick friends, over there."

I motioned my head towards Gilbert and Antonio, who smiled and waved at Francis.

"If I wasn't such a _putain so_t like you, Kirkland, I wouldn't tell me off." He looked sternly into my eyes.

I huffed. I knew what he said in French from all of the previous encounters we've had. I brushed it off.

"There's no need for this, Francis. Just leave me alone please."

"Pourquoi~? _Are you scared I'll beat you to the floor like votre frère?_"

I felt my stomach turn and my throat grew dry.

"...That's... That's not okay! Don't you treat me like I'm nothing!"

I stood up and tried not to let my face show as I held my book to my chest and walked in the opposite direction. I didn't get far, though, because the other two were already behind me and stopped me in my tracks. They pushed me against the wall and slammed their cold fists into my stomach. I choked, and tried not to let the pain get to me. As Francis walked over to the scene, people started to gather around and snap pictures with their mobiles and cheer on the fight. I struggled to get my wrists out of their hold so I could defend myself but the weight of the two of them pinning my against the wall was too hard to break free from. I kept my eyes shut tight and waited for a teacher to show up to break them off of me and they bloodied my clothes and bruised my body.

After one came, they dropped me onto the ground and fled from the scene. The teacher offered me a hand to help me up, but I refused to let myself look weak. Instead I hid my cold tears and bloody nose, and picked myself up off the floor. I grabbed my bag and notebook, and ran out the heavy door and into the hallway.

* * *

**So hello there, my darlings! This literally took me about two weeks to build, and it was indeed _hard work_. My god, I nearly broke my brain trying to form the plot line, and I have pages filled with my headcanons for the countries in this fic. I'm so glad though, all the hours I've spent in school when I should have been listening really payed off. LOOK AT THE PROGRESS *ANGELIC SINGING* **

**So again, I'm sorry if I turned your favorite countries into butt-heads. Believe me, I have nothing against them, I love everyone in this fic to pieces w ****I've already written about a fourth of chapter 8, I just have to type it all in once I make some more progress! *wink* **

**See you in the next chapter *huggles followers***

**Oh, and I'm also considering re-naming this fic too. "Sanctuary" seems a bit cheesy for one, and I've been developing a new one that miiight just fit with the story a little bit better ^^ **


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